Difficulties encountered in care for elderly persons with dementia: coping based on participatory research

• Autor(a) principal: Silva,Barbara Martins Corrêa da
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Caldas,Célia Pereira, David,Helena Maria Shchelowski Leal, Thiollent,Michel Jean Marie
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Geriatria e Gerontologia
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1809-98232018000100035
• topic: Caregivers; Health Services; Social Conditions

Abstract Objective: to analyze the proposal of an action plan created by nurses to deal with difficulties in caring for the elderly. The aim of the present study was therefore to analyze the difficulties that family caregivers find in relation to access to services, material resources and the support network when meeting the care needs of the elderly in accordance with Brazilian public policy. Method: the methodology of participatory research and content analysis proposed by Bardin was used. The context was the Geriatric service of a university hospital. The group of co-researchers included eight nurses and 12 caregivers of elderly people with dementia. Results: the following categories emerged from the analysis: contradictions and work proposals. The contradictions category revealed reflections about the difference between the proposed care for the elderly and the reality of a lack of care and the precarious conditions of health services. This situation leads to overburdening of caregivers. The work proposals refer to the strategies used by nurses to establish a relationship of support to family caregivers to cope with the difficulties involved in care for the elderly. Conclusion: nurses recognize that they are professionals capable of receiving, listening to and managing the needs of family caregivers of the elderly, thus promoting the health of the elderly and the caregivers themselves, preparing the family of the patient for home care and coping with difficulties experienced in elderly care.